Is it REALLY Spring?

My son says, "No. It will snow again in a week if you believe it really is spring!" But my mood says it is, says I want it to be. Look at this new necklace I made yesterday; what is more spring than this little flower child?!

I'm not totally happy with it. I think it could look more polished and the balance could be better and it would be nice if I had copper chain. I worry about how busy it is.

This necklace was inspired by a favorite necklace at Great Barbarian's Shop on ETSY. I saw that the front could be the clasp in an ornate way.

I've been meaning to share another ETSY shop with you. I am constantly amazed how people are able to dig deeper than they knew their pockets went when others are in need. So much need is happening in the world right now. And global need gets global attention, but what about the little need, or rather big needs of people who must seek out attention. I often see "excuses" about why people are selling things and I think to myself, "Are they really in need or is it just to elicit sympathy  and a sale?" Well, these thoughts were brought to mind when I found this ETSY shop.

Aid for Abby is a shop that sells art made by a girl who is Autistic. Mom's, Bonnie Blair's, profile tells the story about the shop and her daughter and her life with her kids and the lessons she has learned about life through her loving daughter. She is so endearing, sincere, and factual, that I know it is not an "excuse".

I just listed TEN new items in my shop. I wanted to share with you that any time I add new listings to my shop, I also move some items to the clearance section and reduce prices. Please check out my shop, and if you are interested in making a purchase, anyone who is a subscriber to this blog, or my other blog BEADS of Thought, will receive 20% off any purchase over $20 (comment Subscriber20 will be verified and receive immediate refund of discount).

Well, enjoy the sunshine while it lasts! Maybe this week, maybe a couple months....if it is in your heart, it will last forever!

Crack Me Up!

Put a "chink in your armour", "break out of your shell", "take a leap" or get "pushed over the edge" to remove the mud and dung and clay that surrounds you, hiding the "golden buddha" you really are!

I've mentioned before in this blog a web site, RealGrowth.Com which sends me inspirational (and too often commercial promotions) and thought provoking news letters. Today's inspiration was a video by Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the ......) which tells the story of the clay buddha. I'm sharing it here with you

I can't believe it has been 10 days since my last post...though I don't know why I'm surprised! My last post was titled "Procrastination...I'm an Expert!"  I've been dealing with a lot of snow, and NOT dealing with even more since I hurt my back in the process of dealing with it. I dealt with the 2 1/2 day power outage by making this necklace. What do you think?

I've been working on my circle in my ETSY shop. I've started my educational research again which I must complete and submit by the end of May (I've had the last 10 months already and have been "thinking" on it!) I've been nursing my son at home for the last week (flu). I've sold some beads and I've made beads for a custom order that weren't right for her but will be right for someone else don't you think?

 

I've also been thinking about making more beads and jewelry and starting a new shop just for jewelry. Do you think I should start a new store, or add my jewelry to my bead inventory?

I think the next jewelry I should make should be something using the beautiful beads I won in the weekly drawing at Beading Deal of the Day, and the amazing beadable hair accessories I won from participating in the blog partners contest for Rings & Things.

The next jewelry I WANT to make is for the prize won by a subscriber at my new blog, BEADS of Thought (my mind a bead, not a boulder, at a time). My new blog is less about beads and more about the random thoughts I have during the day. I wanted to recognize that I am procrastinating posting on this blog because I've been collecting so much info that I want to share, that it became too overwhelming and time consuming to post here. I want to post here more often, so I created a space that makes it okay not to be so verbose and informational and visual, thus freeing me of another reason to procrastinate...how's THAT for personal growth!?

I've been watching a lot of movies lately and posting about them on my other blog. I'm not very good at remembering movie titles and actors, but they always leave me with words I want to remember. I love words and they often come from the most unexpected places; who would have thought "The Hot Chick" (all about the powers of earrings!) was quotable!?

"You are the only one that make my heart beat faster and slower at the same time." If you think you haven't found that "one" you might consider that they are much closer than you are looking; you just haven't kissed your best friend yet!

Cloudy With a Chance for Sunshine

It's a cloudy day, both physically and figuratively. There's a State of the Nation and a State of the State Address (both of which I avoid watching and being depressed by), and today I realized there's a State of the Town Address...reality slapping you in the face on your drive to the post office where you eventually run into every one who lives in the small town of Arnold, California. How sad to see a minimum of 8 business either for sale or rent in one small 2 mile stretch. How are we going to survive this economy?! In a moment I go from "Wow, there are so many opportunities" to "Wow, where is everyone going, and how are they surviving?"

I'm also continuing my journey to live fearlessly, but on a day like today I struggle with believing it isn't all just lala land diversions from the harsh reality of life. But, I have a choice and a voice. Reality is what we perceive it to be and it is possible to perceive opportunity in the face of hardship. And it is important to use my voice and let the Universe hear it, so today I say, if the sun won't come out to play, I'll play in the rain, joyously and optimistically. After all, what choice do I have but to live or die? Some say, "go with the flow"; dead fish go with the flow...I say, "Let's make a new wave!"

Okay, there's the pep talk. Now let's play with beads! I've been practicing stringer control. I am inspired by Melanie Moertel, JC Herrel, and Dora Schubert (to name a few). Yesterday I was reminded of Holly Cooper; she is truly the best lampworker in the world when it comes to stringer control!

Today I installed and began playing with Craft Board, the online jewelry designing program. I'm trying to understand from the points of view of both a buyer and a seller. It is a completely free program and can be used online or offline. There seem to be a lot of options, and no immediate "tutorial", so it will take a while to check it out. I did find a button that sent me to their blog; it seems to be a constant work in process with the last post in December stating that January would be a "boring" month. I subscribed and hope to see a new post soon, since January is over.

In the mean time I want to play with beads. I want to make jewelry. I want to show you the first piece of jewelry I made with my own, beginner's lampwork beads. It is the same necklace I sold the other day.
It is an 8-strand necklace strung on Beadalon stringing wire. Each strand is made with a different combination of gold lined seed beads, seashell chips, rose quartz, agates, amethyst crystals, lampwork rondelles (which you can custom order from me), deep purple metallic cut bugles, purple fire polished faceted ovals, fire polished green/blue seed beads, etched purple rounds, light pink silver lined bugles, seed-pod-shaped purple glass beads, purple metallic pearls, rose quartz seed beads, and lavender disks, and a carved, flower shaped, pua shell focal. The focal is secured by copper metal rings to a bail made from looped seed bead and crystal strand. Strands end with faceted light green metallic ovals and are attached to a silver 3 loop bar clasp.

I've linked the components to the Rings & Things catalogue. When I couldn't find the exact bead I linked to a suitable substitute. It only took an hour to find ALL these components! I followed David's image-search suggestion he left in comments to my They Say The Truth Hurts... post. I love it when people leave comments on my blog!

So, spread a little sunshine and "follow" my blog (click on the right column) or play joyfully in the rain and leave a comment! And when you do both, you make a rainbow in my life!